Fiat Chrysler to buy back 500,000 pickups in recall deal

[TruckDriver]

WOW! 

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-sources-fiat-chrysler-buy-back-300-000-215649585--finance.html

[myk]

Right.  Because Fiat and Chrysler are the only vehicles with undisclosed weaknesses...

[Mytur Binsdirti]

MAMA MIA! 

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-sources-fiat-chrysler-buy-back-300-000-215649585--finance.html

Fixed.

[Paul G]

I just read that the Jeeps will be recalled to have trailer hitches installed to protect the fuel tanks in a rear end collision. Ever wonder why all the police  Crown Vics have big trailer hitches mounted on them? Same reason.

What is the steering issue with Ram trucks? I have never heard of this before?

[64dartgt]

At what point is it unreasonable to hold a manufacturer accountable for a vehicle? 

Ten years?  More? Less? 

I think it is pretty unreasonable for them to be held accountable for a design issue that was common practice, such as mounting the fuel tank at the back.  Everyone knew this was an issue for decades (Pinto anyone?) so why didn't the government just ban the practice if it was so dangerous?

As far as the steering parts go, this is something I am happy to see addressed.  Many manufacturers have been selling vehicles with issues and issues are probably only getting worse with all the Chinese parts likely being put into our cars. 

I just had my 2006 Tundra undercoated courtesy of Toyota because of their frame rust issue.  They sent it to a local body shop which did a lousy job.  I am debating taking it back as my truck magically picked up a bunch of dings I can't recall it having before.  I may just finish it up myself since I think there effort is really just to kick the can down the road for enough years that they can hopefully not be responsible anymore.

In truth, all automakers are probably lobbying hard for a liability limitations.

[charger_fan_4ever]

Considering ram trucks have had steering issues since 1994 i wonder what started this now ?

[Bandit72]

Considering ram trucks have had steering issues since 1994 i wonder what started this now ?

94? Pretty sure it started earlier than that!

[Mike DC]

  
Oh man, Fiat has gotta be PISSED.  They bought Mopar just in time to get hit with the biggest recall expense in the industry's history.  


As for the Jeep gas tank thing, yeah, it does seem like they are punishing Jeeps for being Jeeps.

As for the truck steering thing, it's about time and I don't have the slightest sympathy.  It's their fault, it's safety related, and they've known about it for decades.  




You gotta love the govt.  

The NHTSA is under fire for letting Toyota get away with rusty frames & jammed throttles, so they turn around and give Mopar a severe beat-down to restore their credibility.

[charger_fan_4ever]

Considering ram trucks have had steering issues since 1994 i wonder what started this now ?

94? Pretty sure it started earlier than that!

The old body style with leaf spring front end was pretty tough. Once they went to coilover in 94 things got ugly.

[Bandit72]

Considering ram trucks have had steering issues since 1994 i wonder what started this now ?

94? Pretty sure it started earlier than that!

The old body style with leaf spring front end was pretty tough. Once they went to coilover in 94 things got ugly.

Hell, I wasn't even talking about 4x4's! I do guess most of the problems with the 2 wheel drives showed up when they put that heavy ass cummins on top of it :-P

[charger_fan_4ever]

Considering ram trucks have had steering issues since 1994 i wonder what started this now ?

94? Pretty sure it started earlier than that!

The old body style with leaf spring front end was pretty tough. Once they went to coilover in 94 things got ugly.

Hell, I wasn't even talking about 4x4's! I do guess most of the problems with the 2 wheel drives showed up when they put that heavy ass cummins on top of it :-P

oh ya im in my 5th cummins truck all 4x4. Id be too scared to bet behind a 2wd with that cummins in there unless it was a straight axle like on the cube trucks lol.

[Bandit72]

Considering ram trucks have had steering issues since 1994 i wonder what started this now ?

94? Pretty sure it started earlier than that!

The old body style with leaf spring front end was pretty tough. Once they went to coilover in 94 things got ugly.

Hell, I wasn't even talking about 4x4's! I do guess most of the problems with the 2 wheel drives showed up when they put that heavy ass cummins on top of it :-P

oh ya im in my 5th cummins truck all 4x4. Id be too scared to bet behind a 2wd with that cummins in there unless it was a straight axle like on the cube trucks lol.

My 92 5.9 cummins has been retired to a farm/work truck but she's racked up just over 500k over the years, the guy I bought it from put most of those miles on her hauling horses all over the US with it.

[odcics2]

Over one lousy tie rod end....   

[Highbanked Hauler]

 My 92  2 wheel Cummins steers OK but stopping could be better and I have done the drill with it.

[Charger1970]

This buy back is a joke. 

I got a flyer in the mail today saying they would buy back my 05 Ram Daytona for a whopping $4982. A quick glance through Autotrader shows you can't buy one in decent condition for less than about 3X that amount.

[RallyeMike]

Quote from: Bandit72 on Today at 08:08:20 AM
Quote from: charger_fan_4ever on Today at 07:49:16 AM
Considering ram trucks have had steering issues since 1994 i wonder what started this now ?

94? Pretty sure it started earlier than that!

The old body style with leaf spring front end was pretty tough. Once they went to coilover in 94 things got ugly.

No doubt. It started with the 1972 half tons - the frame always cracked at the steering box!! 

Fiat Chrysler to buy back 500,000 pickups in recall deal

After lots of headaches Chrysler bought back my lemon 07 Ram CTD in 09. My current 05 Ram has two recalls on it. I'm just basically driving it very little right now waiting for the 2nd one to be scheduled so I can kill them at the same time. They way things are going I'll just end up getting a third notice 

Things sure went to shit for me on Dodge trucks after I "upgraded" from my 1971 D100 fifteen years ago. At this rate, I'm going to start looking for another 67-71 D100 pretty soon. 

[charger_fan_4ever]

This buy back is a joke.  

I got a flyer in the mail today saying they would buy back my 05 Ram Daytona for a whopping $4982. A quick glance through Autotrader shows you can't buy one in decent condition for less than about 3X that amount.

So if you don't sell it back to them at their price you get nothing no fix danada ?

[Mike DC]

   
I think it's a matter of time before the lack of real work-trucks causes guys to start rehabbing old pickups in mass numbers. 

People have needed basic beast-of-burden pickups for the last 100 years.  That demand isn't going to go away just because the Fed & auto industry recently decided they would rather build giant $40,000 plastic computers with wheels.

[Paul G]

It is sad, really. There is no such thing as a reliable vehicle these days. They all have problems related to how complex they have become. Fuel economy standards along with safety standards all imposed by the govmnt being the main driver of the complexity. Then when they dont hold up over time lets chastise the manufacturer. 

[Mike DC]

  
It was our choice.  It was either higher gas prices, driving less, driving smaller vehicles, or driving expensive high-MPG vehicles.  The US public chose expensive hi-MPG vehicles.  And we are still continuing to push things even farther in that direction now.    

Safety is our choice too.  Modern buyers absolutely do want it, and do pay extra for it.      


But this thread is about front suspension linkages coming apart.  That's not a complexity problem.  It's a simple corner-cutting issue and Mopar deserved to get burned for it.   

[fizz]

We've had 2 f-350 fords with intermittent death wobble that the dealer couldn't figure out. A 90s Taurus that would accelerate on its own. And a 2 wheel cummins dodge 3500 that has never given a problem, except trans, 400,000 miles.

[RallyeMike]

It is sad, really. There is no such thing as a reliable vehicle these days. They all have problems related to how complex they have become. Fuel economy standards along with safety standards all imposed by the govmnt being the main driver of the complexity. Then when they dont hold up over time lets chastise the manufacturer.

I agree to an extent that the more crap loaded onto a car the more likely it is to have a failure, yet some manufacturers don't have the same level of problems. There are reliable cars. The highly-rated, economy cars my better half drives cause me zero problems.

[Mike DC]

 
The complexity would be less of an issue if the OEMs had some sense about it.  Some systems and items can afford to fail.  Some cannot.  Some items are minor cheap parts but the owner will spend a thousand bucks getting the labor done.  Etc.  

Some of the issues are just idiotic.  There is no reason it should take 8 hours of labor to replace an AC or heater core under the dash.  There is no reason 4 power widows should all go out at $500+ each, with no option for manually raising or lowering the window with a crank on the side of the road, or hardware breaks to the point where the glass cannot stay up at all.  

[odcics2]

I think the vendor that supplied that 'bad' part should be made public.  Chrysler didn't make the bad parts and most of the engineering was done outside on them.  Also - Make the vendor pay for the recalls and fines.   

[Mike DC]

 
I dunno about that.  I think the OEMs need to be the ones that everyone blames when TSHTF.  The OEMs may not design & build all these parts but they control the terms of the deals they make with the vendors.  They know when something is shite pretty quickly and it still always takes a decade and several dozen dead bodies before they get govt-whipped into doing anything about it. 

I mean, the OEMs remember the names of the vendors.  Would the public?  I don't see the public saying "I'm not buying another POS with Delphi window motors again."  They will say "I'm not buying another Chevy."  Go very far beyond that and it's getting too technical to be realistic for most buyers.  These cars have thousands of parts.